bserver--that Hellas should be left to turn for help
and comfort to the Muscovites, a race to whom, probably, her ancient art
and literature appeal less strongly than they do to any other European
people. But she has so turned. "Wait till _Russia_ comes down here!" she
appears to be saying, with deferred menace, to Turkey to-day.

These various monuments of the esplanade do not, however, make Corfu in
the least modern. They are unimportant, they are inconspicuous, when
compared with the old streets which meander over the slopes behind them,
fringed with a net-work of stone lanes that lead down to the water's
edge. It has been said that the general aspect of the place is Italian.
It is true that there are arcades like those of Bologna and Padua; that
some of the byways have the look of a Venetian calle, without its canal;
and that the neighborhood of the gay little port resembles, on a small
scale, the streets which border the harbor of Genoa. In spite of this,
we have only to look up and see the sky, we have only to breathe and
note the quality of the air, to perceive that we are not in Italy. Corfu
is Greek, with a coating of Italian manners. And it has also caught a
strong tinge from Asia. Many of the houses have the low door and masked
entrance which are so characteristic of the East; at the top of the
neglected stairway, as far as possible from public view, there may be
handsome, richly furnished apartments; but if such rooms exist, the
jealous love of privacy keeps them hidden. This inconspicuous entrance
is as universal in the Orient as the high wall, shutting off all view of
the garden or park, is universal in England.

[Illustration: STATUE OF CAPO D'ISTRIA]

The town of Corfu has 26,000 inhabitants. Among the population are
Dalmatians, Maltese, Levantines, and others; but the Greeks are the
dominant race. There is a Jews' quarter, and Jews abound, or did
abound at the time of my visit. Since then fanaticism has raised its
head again, and there have been wild scenes at Corfu. Face to face with
the revival of persecution for religious opinions which is now visible
in Russia, and not in Russia alone, are we forced to acknowledge that
our century is not so enlightened as we have hoped that it was. I
remember when I believed that in no civilized country to-day could there
be found, among the educated, a single person who would wish to
persecute or coerce his fellow-beings solely on account of their
religious opini